


Interlude

by rae_marie



Series: Echoes In the Universe [14]
Category: Bernice Summerfield (Big Finish Audio), Doctor Who & Related Fandoms
Genre: Gen, blair kenneth verse, but just you wait and see, things won't seem significant in this
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-26
Updated: 2019-04-26
Packaged: 2020-01-31 05:50:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,786
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18585076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rae_marie/pseuds/rae_marie
Summary: The Renaissance Academy sits quietly on its planet, as its residents go about their daily lives....





	1. Year One

‘Oh, don’t worry, Blair; Lisar’ll be back soon.’ 

Blair looked up at Ruth as she sat down beside her. 

‘Where did she go, anyway?’ she asked. 

‘She went to a museum to check out some of the artefacts they had; we need new study material badly.’ 

‘Oh okay.’ 

‘I’m going to do that today as well,’ she said, then paused. 

‘....would you like to come with me….?’ 

Blair’s eyes widened. 

‘Oh…. _ yes _ ….but what about classes?’ 

Ruth smiled. ‘I think this can count as going on a field trip.’ Blair ate the last bite of her waffle and pushed her plate away. 

‘When do we go?’ she asked. 

‘Now, if you’re ready.’ 

Blair stood. ‘I’ll get my notebook.’ 

*****

The walk to the pod hangar was a warm and sunny one; it rarely seemed to be too hot or too cold on the planet, and Blair rather liked that; it was sort of like a near-perpetual autumn. 

Ruth opened the door to the hangar and went straight to the closest pod. Blair followed her over and got into the passenger seat. 

‘What planet are we going to?’ she asked. 

‘Tersha.’ Ruth checked the flight controls. ‘The art history museum there is selling some of its exhibits, and Irving wanted one of the smaller ones there.’ 

The pod took off, and the Academy grew smaller and smaller until the sky around them grew dark except for occasional dim patches of starlight in the distance. 

It was breathtaking. 

The pod turned and zoomed off towards what looked like empty space, although Blair knew Ruth knew what she was doing. Sure enough, a small speck of light soon appeared, then started to grow bigger until Blair could see the form of a planet emerging from the darkness. 

_ I wonder how fast we’re going _ , she thought. 

‘You’re going to want to brace yourself for landing,’ Ruth said. ‘I may have flying skills, but landing skills are another matter entirely.’ 

Blair froze, but then Ruth grinned at her, and she realised she was joking. 

*****

After a landing that wasn’t  _ too _ rough, they were greeted in the parking lot by the Curator. She took them to a back room and showed them two exhibit cases. 

‘There’s the green one over here,’ she said. ‘ _ That _ tablet has been around since the reign of Tersha’s first Jarda, while this second blue one over here is a little less old; only been around since the reign of the fifth Jarda.’ 

‘Is that like a king?’ Blair asked. The Curator smiled at her. 

‘Yes, dear; it’s the name for the ruler of this planet.’ 

Ruth and the Curator discussed the tablets for a while longer, before finally deciding on the older, green tablet. The Curator went to another room so she could carefully package it, then came back and handed the small box to Ruth. 

‘Irving better take care of that; it’s a genuine piece of galactic history!’ she said. 

‘Oh, he’ll take care of it; don’t worry.’ Blair thought she heard her mumble something in a sarcastic tone under her breath, but she couldn’t be sure. 

‘You ready to go, Blair?’ Ruth asked. 

‘Yeah.’ She smiled at the Curator. ‘Thanks for showing us the tablets!’ 

‘Of course!’ She held the door open for them, and they went outside. 

*****

As the shuttle flew away from the planet, back towards home, Blair couldn’t help but marvel at all the faint stars in the distance; so far away, burning steadily out in the dark. 

Eventually, the lights from the Academy grew visible, and the pod turned towards the planet. 


	2. Year Two

Blair jumped. 

‘What was  _ that?! _ ’ 

Bev looked up from the book she was reading, leaning against the bookshelf like she hadn’t a care in the world. 

‘It’s been happening every so often through the week I’ve been here,’ she said. ‘I’m not sure, though. Maybe we should take a look.’ 

‘In the basement….?’ 

‘Yeah! I think there’s a trapdoor somewhere around here….’ Bev wandered off. 

Blair did not like this at  _ all _ . 

‘Over here, Blair!’ Bev called. 

Blair started towards her. ‘I….I don’t know….I have a bit of a phobia about dark underground spaces….’ 

‘Don’t worry! I’ve got headlamps.’ 

Blair stopped next to her. 

‘Only if the batteries won’t go out.’ 

Bev frowned. ‘Are you okay, Blair?’ 

‘No, not really; I had an…. _ experience _ with somewhere dark, and torches, and some alien that tried to kill me.’ 

‘Well the batteries are fully charged; it’ll be fine.’ 

Blair hesitated. 

‘If I don’t like it….I’m going right back up,’ she said. Bev nodded. 

‘That’s fair. Come on!’ She handed her the headlamp. ‘There’s a rope ladder.’ 

*****

It wasn’t  _ too _ dark, though Blair still didn’t like it. She had just turned around to go back to the ladder, when there was a rustling sound behind her, and she whirled around. 

‘Wh….what was that….?’ she whispered. 

‘Must be the thing we’re looking for.’ Bev took off her headlamp and shone it directly towards where Blair was looking. There was a bumping sound, and then a beautiful, glowing  _ thing _ floated out into the open. 

Blair caught her breath and reached for Bev. 

‘Don’t worry, Blair; it’s fine.’ 

‘What is it?’ Blair breathed. 

‘It’s an airfish, I think.’ 

It floated towards them, and stopped in front of their faces. 

‘He….hello….?’ Blair whispered. 

It waved a tentacle at them, then floated towards the trapdoor. 

Blair and Bev looked at each other, then raced for the ladder. 

*****

They followed it all the way into the open, its eerie, jellyfish-like body floating ahead of them and lighting the way. 

In the library, as it started floating away, Bev called after it. 

‘Wait!’ 

It turned and floated back towards them. 

‘We have to take you to Braxiatel - you want to explain why you’re here, right?’ 

It seemed to bob in assent. 

‘Yeah….so….I’m sure he knows how to talk to you - please don’t just leave!’ 

The airfish nodded. 

With a sigh, Bev started off towards Braxiatel’s office, the airfish floating behind her. 

Blair just stared in wonder at the glowing thing as it went out the door. 

*****

It was late, yet Braxiatel still was talking with the airfish.

‘What do you mean by the “Youthstone”?’ he asked. ‘What does it look like?’ 

The airfish drew a vague gemstone on the paper with little scribbles around it that Braxiatel assumed represented it glowing.

‘Hmm….no that isn’t here; it hasn’t been for years, actually. Where have you seen it?’ 

The airfish shrugged. 

Braxiatel studied the drawing. 

_ It’s definitely the gem _ , he thought.  _ I wonder where it is _ ….

He looked up at the airfish. ‘Well, I know it’s shiny, but I’m afraid you can’t add it to your collection; it’s rather dangerous, you see.’ 

The creature looked sad, but nodded.   
_ I  _ must _ find it again _ , Braxiatel thought, his gaze wandering back to the paper.  _ It’s out there somewhere, and it can’t be left out in the open like that. It has too much potential for destruction _ .

 


	3. Year Three

‘So they sort of…. _ bend time? _ Is that what you’re saying?’ 

Braxiatel considered this for a moment, then nodded slowly. 

‘Yes….they bend the Vortex so you can hop over to where and when you want to go. It’s rather headache-inducing, really, but it  _ is _ effective.’ 

Blair nodded and thought about this. Then something occurred to her. 

‘Is it a bit like time rings?’ she asked. 

‘Yes, actually! Although it isn’t quite as precise as time rings.’ 

‘How do they work? Mechanically, I mean?’

Braxiatel looked like he was about to say something for a moment, then he gave Blair a curious look. 

‘Come with me to the physics lab for a moment; I want to show you something.’ 

‘Ooh what?’ 

‘You’ll see. I think you’ll like it immensely.’ 

*****

They walked over to the big counter in the lab. There was a pile of what looked like scrap metal in one corner, and Braxiatel swept it over in front of them. 

‘What is it?’ Blair asked. 

‘I believe with these supplies, we could try to make a working Vortex Manipulator,’ he said, staring seriously at the scraps.  

Blair’s eyes widened, and she nodded excitedly. 

‘ _ Yeah! _ Let’s  _ do it! _ ’ 

Braxiatel smiled and started separating the pieces into smaller piles. 

*****

As they were studying the blueprints the next day, Blair heard the door very quietly squeak open, and she turned. 

‘What are you guys  _ doing? _ ’ Lisar breathed. 

‘We’re making a Vortex Manipulator!’ Blair said. 

‘Right now all we have is scrap parts and a blueprint, though.’ Braxiatel sighed and looked up, then he looked at Blair, who nodded. 

‘You want to join us?’ she asked Lisar. 

‘ _ Yeah! _ ’ She grinned and walked over to the table. ‘How long have you been working on this?’ 

‘Just this weekend,’ Blair said. ‘I don’t know if we’ll have time during the week, but we’ll definitely be doing it on weekends.’ 

Lisar studied the scraps. ‘This is incredible,’ she said. ‘Do you think you’ll actually get a working one at the end of this, or just a model?’ 

‘Hopefully it will work,’ Braxiatel said. ‘Though who knows if it will work  _ safely _ ; we have to be careful.’ 

Blair  _ hoped _ it would work safely. 

*****

Blair was going to her and Lisar’s room that night when she heard her name called behind her. She turned, and Benny was standing in the hall, looking anxious. She was trying to hide it, but Blair knew she was; she could feel it tangibly. 

‘Blair….have you been hanging out with Brax the last few days?’ she asked. 

Blair nodded. ‘Yeah; we’ve been making stuff in the lab together.’ 

A wave of relief went over Benny and Blair wondered why. 

‘Oh,  _ good _ ; I was worried he was up to some scheme again.’ Blair thought she heard her mutter, ‘ _ Can’t have that happen again _ ,’ but she couldn’t be sure. 

‘No, we’ve been building a Vortex Manipulator together as a science project; Lisar’s been doing it too.’ 

Benny nodded, but Blair still sensed something there. 

‘Is something wrong, Benny?’ she asked. 

Benny hesitated, then walked over closer to Blair, her voice quieter.

‘Brax has been….sort of dangerous, in the past, and sometimes I worry he’ll slip back into old habits, that’s all. Every now and then I get worried about him when he goes and acts all mysterious.'

‘Ohhh….’ Blair nodded. ‘Yeah, I get that. I get that completely.’ 

Benny smiled thoughtfully. ‘Yeah, I’ll bet you do.’ She ruffled Blair’s hair. ‘Have a good rest, Blair,’ she said. ‘See you tomorrow.’ 

‘You too.’ Blair smiled back at her, and started off again down the hall to her room. The windows scattered evenly throughout the hall showed the moons glowing softly outside. It was beautiful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've always thought of Vortex Manipulators working sort of like tessering does in _A Wrinkle In Time_ ; I'm not sure if it's ever been explained how they work 'in-canon', but this is most definitely my particular headcanon.


End file.
